


To Have But Not Hold

by GoofyGoldenGirl



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Coma, Curses, Flashbacks, Gen, Magic, Married Couple, Peacock Miraculous, Season 2, Spoilers, Temptation, cursed item, secret lair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2018-03-18
Packaged: 2019-04-03 22:03:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14005782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoofyGoldenGirl/pseuds/GoofyGoldenGirl
Summary: He who covets and takes what is not his will suffer the curse of the peacock’s eyes





	To Have But Not Hold

The air was damp and humid. Vines crisscrossed the tiled floor that was caked with dirt. Gabriel stormed through, kicking aside the vines and leaves that lay in his path. A cloud of dust swirled, carrying the leaves along with it before falling back down. The lair grew darker with each step. The sunlight faded and was replaced with a thick blanket of blue smoke that rose from the ground. Contact with it sent Gabriel’s heart pounding. His eyebrows furrowed, lips stretched into a sneer, and his hand shot to the brooch he kept in his coat pocket. A second passed, a glance up at the coffin in front of him and he lowered his hand. His lower lip jutted out, shook, and he almost lost the control he prided upon himself so well.

Streaks of blue popped out from the pallor of Emilie’s skin. The waves of blonde that rested on the top of her hair had withered to wisps of white. Her eyes were pitch black and fixed upwards, perhaps at some astral plane or dimension that lay beyond the realms of Gabriel’s imagination. 

“Emilie,” Gabriel’s voice came out as a choked up whisper. 

He lowered his hand into the casket. His fingers curled, just about to caress his wife’s cheek when her eyes bulged. A thick, noxious stream of smoke exited from her pores and slashed at the air. Gabriel scrambled back with a shout. One hand clutching at the handle of his fogged up glasses, the other stretched out towards his wife. 

“Emilie!”

_The bluish mist parted to reveal the temple. Hand in hand, the couple advanced through the entranceway, blissfully unaware of the warning inscribed above them. There came a ping as the Chinese characters lit up. Then they changed, breaking down their form to assume a new one: a sentence written in French that read:_

_**He who covets and takes what is not his will suffer the curse of the peacock’s eyes** _

_It was as if Gabriel and Emilie had stumbled upon the eighth wonder of the world. The walls were made of gold, adorned with lush illustrations of blue peacocks whose eyes followed the movements of the intruders. Beside them hung see-through glass that sparkled and shone, simultaneously improving and distorting the appearances of those who passed by. Emilie laughed, entranced by the sights around her, pointing at everything that glittered and gleamed. And clinging to each other they walked on. And on until they reached the heart of the temple where there lay a table filled with the rarest of jewels and ornaments. Right in the middle lay a brooch shaped like a peacock’s body, the most beautiful piece of jewelry that Gabriel and Emilie had laid their eyes on._

_“It’s so beautiful it **hurts.** Look at it, lying there **untouched.** It should be **worn.** Shown off to the world. Why it just breaks my **heart,”** Emilie breathed._

_Emilie was right, Gabriel thought. A piece like that should be shown off to the world. Copying its design and selling it would make him millions, billions, **trillions,** a fortune beyond his wildest dreams! Why he could become the most famous designer in the world. Of all **time!** In all of **history!** And the richest man who ever **lived!** The brooch was calling to him. It wanted him to **touch** it. **Hold** it. **Stroke** it.. _

_“Gabriel do you think that brooch would look good on me?”_

_Visions of Emilie wearing the brooch danced in Gabriel’s head. The most beautiful woman in his eyes, a **goddess** that walked among the earth. How **tempting** the sight would be. How he longingly gazed back at her with a most **cunning** grin._

_“You would look **stunning** dear,” he crooned. _

_Emilie reached out. Blue light bounced off of the brooch’s surface._

_“I want to try it on."_

_Emilie screamed. Her body was thrust forward then back. Gabriel let out a shout. Smoke rose from the brooch in Emilie’s hands. It wrapped around her. Constricted her. Her face paled. Eyes rolled in the back of her head. Gabriel rushed towards her, The force of the smoke swept him off his feet and away from her, He crashed down and cowered back, unable to do anything except reach out towards the smoke and scream._

Gabriel coughed as the smoke cleared and seeped back down into the ground. An ethereal blue glow hung over the casket. 

“Emilie!” 

Gabriel staggered over to her again. His hands gripped onto the sides of the casket. He peered down, glasses almost falling from the frame of his face. The smoke shot up and pushed him back. He fell on his knees. 

A low rattling sound broke through the heaviness that hung in the air. Tears fogged up Gabriel’s glasses. They streamed down his cheeks, dripping one by one to the ground. The specks of dirt that weren’t washed away turned into dust as Gabriel’s hands came crashing down. 

“It won’t even let me **near** you!” He wailed. 

His hands clutched the dirt. The casket loomed before him. He lowered his head, forehead pressed down into the ground, and his cry warped into a shriek: 

**“EMILIE!”**

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as an apology for writing Gabriel as a manipulative, heartless, SOB in the past. Especially in [this fic series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/400849)


End file.
